I received my island in two large boxes last night. I spent about 1.5 hrs putting it together by myself. I first laid all the pieces out to make sure they came in-tact. They were excellent (one small knick on bottom flat piece, no biggie). The instructions took me a second to figure out, otherwise I probably would have finished quicker. There were only two problems of note during the construction. 1. The base pieces holes didn't line up perfectly, but with help from children, I was able to push, while they dropped the screw in. 2. The doors on one side don't close perfectly, but they do close. I purchased new knobs - but for some reason in two places they won't go flush. I did needed adult assistance taking it from my garage, where I was assembling, into the kitchen. It's definitely a heavy piece. It doesn't seem like it would be that heavy - until you go to lift it by yourself. I ended up painting the bottom and staining the top. The colors just didn't match my kitchen. The color is antique WHITE. It's not off white...it's white - with a few areas of distress. The top is gorgeous, just too light for my kitchen décor - and didn't flow with the pieces already there. Over all, I like the piece, had no real issues and would recommend this purchase for a quick, fairly inexpensive, addition to your kitchen. Could even use as a side table in dinning area.